oceania

Alternative headline: Glorious Anti-imperialist government of Indonesia catches another one.

Activist legends Blockade Australia have shut down Australian coal ports across the country for 3 consecutive days and counting.

Australia is one of the largest exporters of coal, and is known for genociding and exploiting Aboriginal people to do so. Historically this has included massacres, incarceration, sterilization, poisoning, destruction of ancient cultural artefacts and land theft.

Check out some of their media releases and social media: https://www.blockadeaustralia.com/ https://linktr.ee/blockade.australia

AKA: Australia's most based individual

Also get a load of the cope on the actual title of the story

On 14th July this year, New Zealand intends to commemorate Maori New Year while simultaneously observing its most recent public holiday for the second occasion, following its statutory recognition last year.

On Thursday, at the Dark Sky Sanctuary situated in Lake Tekapo of New Zealand's South Island, festivities preceding Matariki began with the inauguration of a booklet containing karakia (Maori prayer) designated for each of the nine stars of Matariki.

Matariki represents a significant event in the New Zealand calendar, in which the commencement of the Maori New Year is recognized through the reemergence of the Matariki constellation of stars in the evening skies.

According to the Minister of Maori Crown Relations, Kelvin Davis, the booklet will be widely disseminated to schools and communities throughout the country, in order to assist individuals with their respective preparations for commemorating Matariki, thereby serving as a valuable resource.

Matariki was marked for the first time as an official public holiday last year.

"It was a beautiful moment to see how the nation took joy in celebrating and embracing Matariki last year," Davis said.

According to the data, a minimum of 87 percent of the New Zealand population has acquired a certain level of comprehension regarding the purpose and significance of Matariki, David said.

May 3 (UPI) -- Local officials in New South Wales, Australia, are asking residents to keep a respectful distance from a rare animal spotted in the area: an albino echidna.

The Bathurst Regional Council said in a Facebook post that a council employee snapped photos of the ghostly white echidna while out walking Tuesday.

The echidna, named Raffie by locals, is albino, meaning its entire body lacks pigment.

"If you see Raffie out, please feel free to take a couple of snaps but do not approach, touch, or try and contain him. It is important to leave wildlife alone, as you could risk them losing their scent trail or leaving young unattended in the burrow," the council wrote.

Resident Geoff Hadley said he helped Raffie cross a road recently.

"I've seen hundreds of echidnas but I've never, ever seen a white one -- it was just crazy," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

When Kylee Gray first laid eyes on the creature, she couldn’t help it: She gasped aloud. Then, the Australian park ranger picked up the cane toad and the surprises kept coming. Gray simply “couldn’t believe how big and heavy it was.” And she was right to be shocked.

...

later than early February, she said in a televised statement on Thursday.

A general election would be held on October 14, she added.

“While I won’t be contesting the election, I know the issues that impact New Zealanders most will remain the focus of the government through this year and into the election," she said.

Ardern said she still believed New Zealand Labor would win the upcoming election.

No info I can find yet on who did it and why, so I'll reserve a small amount of judgement just in case it was some chud shit...

but until then: lmao owned

The unique wildlife is one of the only good things about Australia. Enjoy it before it's all destroyed for investment property development :sadness-abysmal:

The Emu War, also known as the Great Emu War, was a nuisance wildlife management military operation undertaken in Australia over the later part of 1932 to address public concern over the number of emus said to be running amok in the Campion district of Western Australia. The unsuccessful attempts to curb the population of emus, a large flightless bird indigenous to Australia, employed soldiers armed with Lewis guns—leading the media to adopt the name "Emu War" when referring to the incident. While a number of the birds were killed, the emu population persisted and continued to cause crop destruction.

background

Following World War I, large numbers of discharged veterans who served in the war were given land by the Australian government to take up farming within Western Australia, often in agriculturally marginal areas. With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, these farmers were encouraged to increase their wheat crops, with the government promising—and failing to deliver—assistance in the form of subsidies. In spite of the recommendations and the promised subsidies, wheat prices continued to fall, and by October 1932 matters were becoming intense, with the farmers preparing to harvest the season's crop while simultaneously threatening to refuse to deliver the wheat.

The difficulties facing farmers were increased by the arrival of as many as 20,000 emus. Emus regularly migrate after their breeding season, heading to the coast from the inland regions. With the cleared land and additional water supplies being made available for livestock by the Western Australian farmers, the emus found that the cultivated lands were good habitat, and they began to foray into farm territory—in particular the marginal farming land around Chandler and Walgoolan. The emus consumed and spoiled the crops and left large gaps in fences where rabbits could enter and cause further problems.

Farmers relayed their concerns about the birds ravaging their crops, and a deputation of ex-soldiers were sent to meet with the Minister of Defence, Sir George Pearce. Having served in World War I, the soldier-settlers were well aware of the effectiveness of machine guns, and they requested their deployment. The minister readily agreed, although with conditions attached: the guns were to be used by military personnel, troop transport was to be financed by the Western Australian government, and the farmers would provide food, accommodation, and payment for the ammunition. Pearce also supported the deployment on the grounds that the birds would make good target practice, while it has also been argued that some in the government may have viewed the operation as a way of being seen to be helping the Western Australian farmers, to stave off the secession movement that was brewing. Towards that end, a cinematographer from Fox Movietone was enlisted

The War

Military involvement was due to begin in October 1932. The "war" was conducted under the command of Major Gwynydd Purves Wynne-Aubrey Meredith of the Seventh Heavy Battery of the Royal Australian Artillery, with Meredith commanding soldiers Sergeant S. McMurray and Gunner J. O'Halloran, armed with two Lewis guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition.

First attempt

On 2 November, the men travelled to Campion, where some 50 emus were sighted. As the birds were out of range of the guns, the local settlers attempted to herd the emus into an ambush, but the birds split into small groups and ran so that they were difficult to target. Nevertheless, while the first fusillade from the machine guns was ineffective due to the range, a second round of gunfire was able to kill "a number" of birds.

The next significant event was on 4 November. Meredith had established an ambush near a local dam, and more than 1,000 emus were spotted heading towards their position. This time the gunners waited until the birds were in close proximity before opening fire. The gun jammed after only twelve birds were killed and the remainder scattered before any more could be shot. No more birds were sighted that day.

In the days that followed, Meredith chose to move further south, where the birds were "reported to be fairly tame", but there was only limited success in spite of his efforts. By the fourth day of the campaign, army observers noted that "each pack seems to have its own leader now—a big black-plumed bird which stands fully six feet high and keeps watch while his mates carry out their work of destruction and warns them of our approach". At one stage Meredith even went so far as to mount one of the guns on a truck, a move that proved to be ineffective, as the truck was unable to gain on the birds, and the ride was so rough that the gunner was unable to fire any shots. By 8 November, six days after the first engagement, 2,500 rounds of ammunition had been fired. The number of birds killed is uncertain: one account estimates that it was 50 birds, but other accounts range from 200 to 500, the latter figure being provided by the settlers. Meredith's official report noted that his men had suffered no casualties.

On 8 November, members in the Australian House of Representatives discussed the operation. Following the negative coverage of the events in the local media, that included claims that "only a few" emus had died, Pearce withdrew the military personnel and the guns on 8 November.

After the withdrawal, Major Meredith compared the emus to Zulus and commented on the striking manoeuvrability of the emus, even while badly wounded.

If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds it would face any army in the world ... They can face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks. They are like Zulus whom even dum-dum bullets could not stop.

Second attempt

After the withdrawal of the military, the emu attacks on crops continued. Farmers again asked for support, citing the hot weather and drought that brought emus invading farms in the thousands. James Mitchell, the Premier of Western Australia lent his strong support to renewal of the military assistance. At the same time, a report from the Base Commander was issued that indicated 300 emus had been killed in the initial operation.

Acting on the requests and the Base Commander's report, by 12 November the Minister of Defence approved a resumption of military efforts. In assessing the success of the cull, an article in the Coolgardie Miner on 23 August 1935 reported that although the use of machine guns had been "criticised in many quarters, the method proved effective and saved what remained of the wheat".

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